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The Art of Choosing: Burgundy tips from one enthusiast to another – my personal guide.

❶ Identify your style preference first – elegant/powerful red or creamy/fresh white.

❷ Pay attention to acidity and alcohol integration – tension without sharp edges.

❸ Oak should support the wine – avoid dominant "oak bombs."

❹ Look for value – Village & Regional wines can be surprisingly good.

❺ Taste different vintages – discover your own palate.

❻ Minerality as the backbone – especially in oak-aged Chardonnay.

❼ Choose small, sustainable winemakers – HVE, BIO, DEMETER.

To me, Burgundy wine is pure magic—an experience for all your senses. I live by the credo “Drink less, but better,” and nowhere does that fit better than in Burgundy. I still get goosebumps from a glass of oak-aged Chardonnay where vibrant mineral acidity provides tension, freshness, and energy, while the soft curves of the wine offer pure drinking pleasure. The limestone-rich soil here can elevate even a simple wine to a higher level—and that is exactly what I fall for.

🔍 1. Know Your Style

Before you buy a bottle, I ask you: what are you looking for in a wine? That is the starting point for every good choice. Do you want a silky-smooth Pinot Noir full of red cherry and raspberry, perhaps with some floral notes? Then you’ll quickly find yourself looking at villages like Chambolle-Musigny or Volnay. But further south, in the Côte Chalonnaise, you’ll find beautiful alternatives like Givry—often more accessible in price without sacrificing finesse.

Do you prefer more powerful, earthy Pinot Noir with depth, structure, and a hint of wildness? Think of names like Gevrey-Chambertin, Nuits-Saint-Georges, or the robust Pommard. For power and structure, you often have to look to the north of Burgundy. Be aware that prices are highest there, and you will need to call upon your patience. Take, for example, a single-vineyard wine like Vincent Girardin’s Pommard Les Noizons 2023. Drinkable from 2026! And that’s only the beginning of its development. On average, you do well to wait at least 6 years after bottling before opening a wine like this. And we haven’t even mentioned Premier Cru or Grand Cru yet!

Are you a fan of fresh, mineral Chardonnay with tension and energy? Then I recommend Chablis (northwest) or Saint-Aubin (center)—or, slightly further south, Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, especially from 2021 and 2024, years characterized by vibrancy and purity. In fact, the 2021/2024 vintages across all of Burgundy are marked by more freshness due to relatively fewer sun hours. These are known as "troubled" vintages, but they also brought opportunities by resisting the effects of global warming. A welcome surprise, secretly!

For those who love a creamy, full-bodied Chardonnay with notes of butter, vanilla, and hazelnut, Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet are classics. However, southern appellations like Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran, or Viré-Clessé in the Mâconnais are now producing impressive Chardonnays with rich texture and mineral tension. Generally, the further south you go, the more richness you find, though this is often accompanied by tropical fruit notes. Many enthusiasts are leaning toward leaner, drier fruit profiles these days, which the south can still provide by harvesting earlier. This is the modern trend that has put the Mâconnais back on the map since 2021.

Let’s be honest: Burgundy is not a region you just "step into." Aside from the higher prices, it can be difficult for a beginning enthusiast to truly appreciate the value. And then there is that higher average acidity—an element not everyone embraces immediately. Especially with red Burgundy, it takes some getting used to. But know that this acidity makes it possible to drink red wine even when it’s 35 degrees Celsius outside. Without those fruity acids, you’d feel saturated and tired after just one sip. Acidity activates other flavors and leaves a clean mouthfeel that invites the next sip.

I always say: once you get used to it, you are lost for life. After Burgundy, "bombastic" wines—overloaded with oak, residual sugar, or excessive extraction—often taste heavy, flat, and exhausting. Wines without acidity or tension rarely invite a second sip. They fill you up, but they don't move you. And that is exactly why I fell in love with Burgundy.

My advice? Build it up. Don’t start with the most expensive names just because you think "it's expensive, so it must be good." It rarely works that way. Your palate needs to develop. Taste, compare, and discover what extra flavors appear when you spend, say, €10 to €20 more. How much longer does the wine linger in your mouth? What does it do to the structure, the layering, the refinement? That journey—from simple, fresh Burgundies to complex, multi-layered bottles—is what makes the experience so special.

⚖️ 2. Acidity & Alcohol: The Silent Foundation

A good Burgundy stands or falls on the balance between acidity, alcohol, and flavor concentration. Acidity provides tension and "digestibility." It accentuates the fruit and ensures that even a full, oak-aged Chardonnay never becomes sluggish.

Then there is the alcohol. Without it, wine would taste flat and hollow. Even with modern dealcoholization, "No-Lo" wines often feel listless; they lack the natural tension and structure alcohol provides. That said, I am not looking for high-alcohol powerhouses. I look for the "sweet spot," which for me lies around—and sometimes just under—13% alcohol. This creates a fragile, elegant tension. The art of winemaking is making a wine so flavorful and refined that it almost drinks like lemonade, without becoming simplistic.

Time is your friend here. Sometimes it’s time in the barrel, sometimes in the bottle, and sometimes... just a few hours in a decanter. I often find the last glass of a bottle is the best: "Now it's truly performing!" After three hours of oxygen, the fruit is softer, the oak better integrated, and everything comes together.

🪵 3. Oak Usage: The Art of Dosing

Oak can make or break a wine. I love a subtle hint of vanilla or a "buttery" finish, but only if it supports the wine. In the Netherlands, we often drink wine far too young, meaning the oak hasn't integrated yet and sits like a heavy blanket over the fruit. Give powerful, oak-aged wines time—at least 3 years of bottle aging—or choose a wine with less oak if you want to drink it young.

💶 4. Value for Money: Don’t be Blinded by Grand Cru

In our opinion, the sweet spot of Burgundy lies between €15 and €35 per bottle. In this segment, you can find artisanal wines from small producers with honest prices and surprising depth. No big names or expensive marketing—just purity and balance.

I get a huge kick out of letting someone taste a generic Burgundy and having them ask: "Is this a Premier Cru?" And I can say: "No, this is just the entry-level wine from a small domaine." That is the charm of Burgundy: finding wines that perform above their classification because they were made with care. For example, a Mâcon La Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes from old vines can easily stand next to a much more expensive Meursault.

Wine is allowed to "hurt" the wallet a little, because that makes you more conscious of it. You cherish it, choose the right moment, and ensure the conditions are right.

🍇 5. Taste Different Vintages and Producers

In my search, I always taste multiple vintages and producers side-by-side. This reveals not only what a warm or cool year does to the flavor, but also how strong the "signature" of the winemaker is. Sometimes the maker makes more of a difference than the terroir itself.

⛏️ 6. Minerality: The Soul of Burgundy Chardonnay

To me, minerality is the most beautiful form of freshness. It makes a buttery wine lively and provides a long, exciting finish. That contrast between roundness and "tightness" is what draws me back to this region time and time again.

🌿 7. Choose Small, Sustainable Winemakers

I buy directly from small, artisanal houses. Whether they work HVE, Organic, or Biodynamic, their wines often have more "soul." Look for balance. Don't take the easy road of just "lots of flavor" or an impressive label. It has to be right in the glass—not just on paper.

Challenge yourself. Open two different bottles and taste them side-by-side. What is the fruit doing? How does the structure feel? Where is the tension? Every bottle is a chapter in the great story of Burgundy.

The more you learn, the more you realize you’ve only just begun.